Logline: No family is Perfect. In the aftermath of her estranged father’s death, Lorna leaves her on-again-off-again boyfriend at home and sets off on a journey across the country in hopes of finding out more about her family and herself.

Length: 80 minutes

Director: AnnaRose King

Producer: Carolyn Mao

About the director and producer: (25 words each, if same person 50 words)

ANNAROSE KING is an award winning New York-based filmmaker and actor. She completed a Masters of Fine Arts degree from NYU’s graduate filmmaking program with Good Enough, her first feature film. More info can be found at: www.annaroseking.com

Carolyn Mao, is a LA-based producer and currently a Film Independent Producing Fellow and Time Warner OneFifty Artist. Good Enough is her first feature. Her next is You and Me Both starring Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) scheduled to begin production this summer.

Good Enough began its festival tour a few weeks ago to a great audience at the 2016 Boston International Film Festival, where it won the Indie Spirit Best Actress Award. Bentonville Film Festival is our second festival and we look forward to premiering across the country and beyond. While we have been approached by sales agents and distributors, we have made no formal commitments. Our hope for the film is to continue to find audiences and broader distribution beyond the festival circuit.

Funders or production company: young king productions, inc. Film Equipment and Editing Facilities courtesy of Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Festivals and Awards:

Winner of INDIE SPIRIT BEST ACTRESS AWARD, 2016 Boston International Film Festival

Where can I watch it @Bentonville FF?

Cinetransformer Mockingbird @ 2:30, Wed. May 4th

Virtual Festival Pass on Vudu at (www.watchvudu.com/bff/)

Why did you make GOOD ENOUGH?

When I set out to make Good Enough, I didn’t know exactly what it was going to be about. However, I did know I wanted to make a film that dealt with searching, grief, and identity—but in a lighthearted way. This was my guide, that and my own grieving at the loss of my father several years prior.

It’s often said that the script dies with your actors, then dies with your editor, meaning a script has many lives. The life on the page, the actors cast to play that life—which may be different than what you had imagined when you wrote it— then the script dies again in the editing room when you try to work out the story of the film you end up with. Usually the script cut is much different than the final cut; therefore, it dies again.

Knowing this and being honest with myself, I thought, “Well, if it dies so many times than maybe I shouldn’t pull my hair out for the script”—as I had done for projects in the past that are stuck in development —“and just make something!” And maybe I was done with all the dying.

As a creator I can’t stay in the writing process forever, especially knowing that it will take many stages after. So I dug into myself and pulled out a scriptment, the blueprint for the movie. This process was a way for me to keep fresh as the lead actor.

Opening myself up for surprise and being in the moment could come by literally not knowing what might happen next. We shot over eight months and rewrote in between. In a way my process is a marriage of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, with my own personal twist to an ever-evolving process.

The processes of grief and of finding a place in the world are complicated, subterranean in ourselves, and involve reinventing yourself and your story. Good Enough is about finding peace at what relationships one has, instead of the chaos of what one doesn't both in family and love life. And though this film was born from feelings of loss and yearning, its message is about discovering the things that we already have and the ways they can make us whole.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Coming to see our film will be entertaining and you’d be supporting a production with an all female above the line crew. That’s right! Our screenwriter, director, producer, and one of two executive producers are all woman. Additionally we scored the highest rating on the BFF Diversity ranking, which takes into account representations of women, diversity, and inclusion in subject matter, cast, and crew.

Ultimately it’s a story about finding out your parents are just people doing the best they can and a comedic and heartwarming coming of age film about your 20s.

How does your work as an actor influence your role as director?

Being the lead in a film I’m directing meant I was always ON. I wanted to preserve or take care of my performance, so I surrounded myself with really talented people who I trust and whose opinions I admire. It meant I was micromanaging less because there literally wasn’t time to do it but also meant that my hand was in everything from the kernel of an idea to screen.

Ensemble is always important to me as a director, so being an actor in the film influenced the casting of the film in that I basically cast people who make me laugh and are good people. As a film that stems from the personal - good, funny, and talented people were essential to get us through the inevitable challenges of making a film.

Is GOOD ENOUGH a specific or universal story?

I find the more specific a story is the more universal it can be. There is that transition everyone has when they realize their parents are just people too, doing the best they can. They aren’t the heroes or villains they once were when you’re a kid. My character goes on a journey to learn more about her family. We can all relate wanting to more about where we came from.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We’ve had amazing feedback from a very diverse audience, from both women and men, and people who like both arthouse and commercial films. People have really enjoyed and responded positively to the combination of the comedic and heartwarming elements of our film.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

We have been pleasantly surprised by the genuinely positive response to our film. If anything, it reinforces our belief that there is a need in the current marketplace for a film like ours, one that showcases a female perspective that is comedic, authentic, and original.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on this platform?

We are looking to get people interested in our film and hopefully come and see it at BFF or on Vudu after the festival! We are also hoping to get distributors interested in our film and contact us to see how they can get our film in front of wider audiences.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We would love to hear from sales agents, buyers, distributors, festival directors, journalists - so basically all of the above. Anyone who can help get our film in front of more audiences.

What type of impact would you like this film to have?

I would like our audiences to walk away appreciating the people in their life a bit more. Nobody is perfect and certainly no family is. My character could focus on all the possible reasons why her Father left her family, but then miss out on the people in her life that are here with her now.

It’s not easy, but the spirit behind the film is to be a bit more forgiving of our parents. They are just people too. And if you aim for good enough, and are a bit more forgiving, you could end up with great by seeing who is there instead of who isn’t.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or conversation about this film?

How does having having an all-female team influence the process of getting Good Enough made?

You’re also involved with the LA TI DA collective of NYC based women filmmakers. Can you tell us about this collective?

Yes! I’m a founding member. LA TI DA is an all female film collected started to encourage and support our fellow female filmmakers on feature filmmaking. All five members graduated from NYU’s MFA Film program around the same time and were inundated with a surge of well warranted media coverage on the lack of women directors in Hollywood.

Our belief was that we could support each other in our directing and create or pass along opportunities for each other. We found it a much more productive and uplifting alternative to sitting around and feeling discouraged about the climate we were entering after graduate school.

So we banded together with the idea that together we are stronger! Since creating the collective all of us have made at least one feature film or have one going into production this year. More can be found on our initiative and projects at latidaproductions.co.